In a move to thwart
future lawsuits, chemical companies voluntarily requested that the EPA
cancel a fungicide called benomyl. DuPont, the technical registrant, made
the initial request in April 2001 after citing the high costs of defending
itself in court. DuPont paid more last year to cover legal fees than it
did in sales: litigation fees cost $1.3 billion, while sales of the chemical
only amounted to $96 million.

The plaintiffs in
the lawsuit included parents whose children were exposed to a formulation
of benomyl. Their children were born without eyes or with abnormally small
eyes. This chemical is also toxic to fish, although the EPA had placed
it in a category of low acute toxicity.

Benomyl is also linked
to crop damage in 23 states. The Florida Department of Agriculture found
it was conclusively linked to "significant to substantial" crop
damage, including stunted, distorted leaf growth and interference with
root growth. The fungicide is mostly used on fruits and vegetables.

The EPA received letters
from the following other registrants requesting cancellation of all their
products containing benomyl: American Mushroom Institute; Amvac Chemical
Corp; Pursell Industries, Inc.; The Scotts Company; Value Garden Supply
LLC; and Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc. This represents all of the
companies holding registrations for benomyl. The agency published a notice
of receipt of the registrants' request on October 12, 2001.